Method of making single unit stockings



Dec. 16, 1947. o. H. PoNs METHOD OF MAKING SINGLE UNIT STOCKINGS Filed Jan. 8, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l arwe/wtomt O/VSIME H. PM:

Dec. 36, 1947. o. H. PONS 2,432,679

. METHOD OF MAKING SINGLE UNIT STOCKINGS Filed Jan. 8, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Onesune H I OIZS gvwwwfob Patented Dec. 16, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,432,6'? METHOD OF MAKING SINGLE UNIT STOCKINGS Onesi'me Pons, Valde'se, N.

Application January 8, 1945, Serial No. 571,847

This invention relates toa, stocking and more specifically to a stocking known as the single unit type in which the leg, heel and foot portions are knitted in one continuous operation so that by proper widening and narrowing, the heel pocket can be properly formed, and it is the purpose of this invention to dispose the narrowing points in such a manner as to make a inuch better and much more elastic heel pocket than has heretofore been accomplished in the knitting of single unit stockings.

It is an object of this invention to provide a single unit stocking in which the narrowing lines are disposed inwardly a substantial distance from the selvage portion and which line of narrowing marks are disposed at an acute angle to the selvage and not parallel thereto as has heretofore been the custom in making stockings of this type.

It is another object of this invention to provide a single unit stocking in which, by a peculiar type of narrowing and the places where it is located in the lower portion of the heel pocket, I am able to knit a stocking with a greatly decreased number of courses in the heel pocket, as heretofore it has been necessary to continue knitting for a substantial length of time until the proper narrowing has been effected before straight knitting is resumed, thus causing an excessive number of courses in the instep portion, which causes wrinkling. By my improved method of knitting, this is eliminated, as on account of the special narrowing employed, the stocking is narrowed into the proper width much sooner than has heretofore been the custom, thus eliminating a great number of courses in this portion of the stocking, and thus eliminating the wrinkling of the stocking at the bend between the foot and the ankle portion.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of the heel portion of a stocking blank made in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged detailed portion of the left hand central portion of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an elevation of the heel portion of a completed stocking made in accordance with my invention, after the stocking has been seamed and boarded.

In knitting a stocking of this improved type, conventional knitting occurs throughout the leg portion and conventional widening takes place in the formation of the upper heel pocket from In to l l. When widening of the heel pocket has been completed, it is preferable to knit a few courses from H to H2 without either narrowing or widening. Then narrowing. begins at I2 and there is usually employed a great number of narrowing points, preferably enough to engage all of the wales. from the selvage portion to wale l 4 adjacent to the inner edge of the reinforced portion of the heel, so as to start the narrowing marks as remotely aspossible from the selvage. When narrowing. begins, as the carrier moves across the machine to knit a course, the narrowing points are lowered to engage all off the loops from wale it out to the selvage, and all of the loops are raised upwardly and transferred inwardly from the edge of the blank two wales and deposited again on the needles. The narrowing points then, after releasing their loops on the needles, move upwardly and the carrier then moves back across the blank towards the selvage and returns to the starting point, and the reinforcing carriers, of course, move from the selvage inwardly to the point where reinforcing stops and then return to the starting point at the selvage. While the carriers have been making their round trips, the narrowing points are racked out three needles and are then lowered and engage all of the wales from the innermost narrowing point out to the selvage and transfer them inwardly for two needles and deposit all of the loops on the needles to which they have been transferred. Then the narrowing points are moved upwardly ready for the carriers to make another round trip. This takes place for a goodly number of courses, and I find that approximately thirty-eight courses produce a good stocking. This causes the fashioning marks 15 to terminate short of the edges of the blank, as shown in the drawings.

As is well known, narrowing in its fabric reduces the elasticity, and by this type of narrowing, the wales in the heel pocket are plain wales and also the outer wales extending from the heel to the instep portion are plain wales which are parallel to the selvage edge, with no narrowing marks therein, which gives greater elasticity to the stocking than if the narrowing marks ran parallel to the edge of the blank. As a result of this type of narrowing, I am able to knit stockings with a substantially less number of courses in the lower portion of the heel pocket than where the narrowing marks run parallel to the edge of the blanks. In other words, from the time I begin narrowing to the time the heel pocket is finished, I employ from ten to twenty less courses in reaching the instep portion, and in accomplishing the required amount of narrowing, depending upon the type of stocking being knit, than in the conventional method of narrowing.

Heretofore, in knitting the stockings with the narrowing marks running parallel to the edge of the blank, it has been necessary to continue knitting courses in the heel pocket until the proper amount of narrowing has been accomplished. In order to get the proper length in the old style of knitting, it has resulted in the'instep being too long. By my method I knit more plain courses in the foot and less courses in the heel pocket. This produces a much more elastic stocking and causes it, when boarded, to assume the proper shape, eliminating the wrinkles in the instep due to the greater elasticity in the stocking by having a greater number of courses in the heel pocket devoid of narrowing marks than has heretofore been done, and also having the outer wales parallel to the selvage, and also having the narrowing marks at an acute angle to the selvage. The reason for this is that the narrowing marks are forwardly of that portion of the heel pocket which needs elasticity. In my new type of stocking, in boarding to shape the heel pocket, the stretch is approximately at right angles to the line of narrowing marks, where in the old style the stretch in forming the heel pocket is in a direction parallel to the narrowing marks.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth, a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. That method of knitting a single unit stocking blank which comprises widening to form the upper portion of the heel pocket and then narrowing to form the lower portion of the heel pocket, the narrowing comprising racking out the narrowing points three wales and narrowing two wales for each narrowing operation, and stopping the line of narrowing marks several wales short 01 the selvage edge of the blank.

2. That method of knitting a single unit stocking blank which comprises widening to form the upper portion of the heel pocket and then narrowing to form the lower portion of the heel pocket, the narrowing comprising racking out the narrowing points three wales and narrowing two wales for each narrowing operation, and stopping the line of narrowing marks substantially at the selvage edge of the blank.

ONESIME H. PONS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,943,178 Heinitz Jan. 9, 1934 2,330,445 Patton Sept. 28, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 1,443 Great Britain 1915 481,220 Germany Aug. 17, 1929 570,836 Germany Feb. 23, 1933 

